Sunday, August 14, 2011

"Tax Free Parasite Whirlpool"

Received on this blog:

Do you want Whirlpool-Harbor Shores entities sucking up all of the Brownfield funding instead of addressing the contaminated sites near city public parks and in neighborhoods? Are these Brownfield elligible requests to further finance the tax free parasite Whirlpool? Please voice the communities need of what little funding remains. I have not looked up the property numbers but believe you already know who, what, where and why.

From the Legal Section, Herald Palladium, St. Joseph, Michigan

BENTON HARBOR

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ADOPTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE CITY OF BENTON HARBOR PURSUANT TO AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF ACT 381 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN OF 1996, AS AMENDED

PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT a public hearing shall be held before the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of the City of Benton Harbor on the 25th day of August 2011 at 4:00 pm in the Benton Harbor City Hall, 200 Wall Street. The purpose of the hearing is to consider whether to add Section XXXV to the City’s Downtown Area Brownfield Redevelopment Plan, which shall provide for the addition of eligible properties generally bordered by Main Street, 12th Street, Market Street and 10th Street having the following identification numbers:

All information related to the Plan and the proposed amendment is available for public inspection at the office of the City’s brownfield redevelopment advisor, Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc., 115-A West Main Street, Benton Harbor, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Any aspect of the proposed amendment may be discussed at the public hearing and all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard.

Whirlpool employee Fred Denny and an unnamed source say the company will lay off about 300 people by January at its Fort Smith refrigeration plant with plans to close the large plant by July.

Officials with Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool Corp. confirmed in late July the loss of 65 jobs at the plant. The City Wire estimates that employment at the plant is about 950 hourly workers and about 85 salaried workers.

Fred Denny, an employee at Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant for 34 years, told The City Wire that employees in the quality control section and tube shop were told Thursday (Aug. 11) that about 40 salaried workers would be cut by January — 25 in October and 15 in January — and 200-250 hourly jobs would be cut in January.

More alarming is that Denny said the employees were told the plant would likely shut down by July.

“No, not after this. Not after today,” Denny, 62, said when asked if he would be surprised if the plant closed. “I’ve been expecting this. We’ve been hearing rumors about this for months.”

A second source independently confirmed the numbers Denny provided, to include information that the plant will cut production to just 550 refrigerators a day by January.

“They are getting ready with that (job cuts) in January because they have to give employees six months notice that they are going to close the plant. This way, they can run it and make a few products for a few months and then they don’t have to give severance pay when they close,” Denny explained.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders, a former Whirlpool employee, said based on what he has been told about production changes the company is not planning to close by July.

“I don’t think that’s true. You might want to talk to them (Whirlpool officials) before you go with your story,” Sanders said late Thursday.

Whirlpool spokeswoman Kristine Vernier did not comment on speculation about a plant closure, but did provide this statement late Thursday: “As part of our annual planning process, Whirlpool Corporation communicated internally today at Fort Smith that projected demand for side-by-side refrigerators continues to decline. It was further communicated that this reduced volume, along with recent softening of the economy, could possibly result in layoffs of up to 250 hourly and 20 salaried employees at this location in the coming year. While no decisions have been finalized we understand how difficult this information is during these uncertain times and strive to share information with our employees as we continue the planning process.”

Whirlpool noted in its second quarter earnings report that the company’s U.S. appliance shipments would decline by 1%-2% in 2011. The previous guidance was that U.S. shipments in 2011 would increase by as much as 3%.

And in a July 27 statement, Vernier said the company was cutting production in Fort Smith because U.S. appliance demand “is at recessionary levels.”

Primarily the result of the housing-sector induced national recession, Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool made production cuts and layoffs causing employment in Fort Smith to drop from about 4,600 in early 2006 to less than around 1,100 today. In 2010, the company cut about 850 jobs at its Fort Smith operation, which left the employee count at 1,020 hourly and 110 salaried workers at the end of November.

The global appliance maker employs about 67,000 around the world and posted $18.4 billion in revenue during 2010.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Recent communication rec'd by Rev. Pinkney:

"The Berrien County Register of Deeds has known since the summer of 2007 that the 99 yr. Lease-Agreements are stolen, have not made any attempt to address the matter, for such attempt would draw attention to the Jean Klock Park of which legal process--State or Federal--never took cognizance of said Lease-Agreement or the fact that the Jean Klock Park never went through the receivership process the Warren State Park went through a year before: there is no "Trustee" at the Jean Klock Park, nor the Warren Properties except the State Park now that receivership process is complete.

The Klock Foundation, went into dissolution and became merged into the Berrien Community Foundation, but the Park again never went through the receivership process: botched Government process based upon the crime of the stolen 99 yr. Lease-Agreements: ...other Jack Nicklaus Projects where Golf Courses have consumed Parks the missing 99 yr. Lease-Agreements there, here would be the hard evidence of the premeditated crime at the Berrien County Register of Deeds.

Let me know if you are interested. ...the pending Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights case against Casey's Bar, whose current status after a year before the Dept. is "ongoing investigation." In other words, there is a criminal investigation running side by side. Think about it, it's not for me, it is for Mr. E.K. Warren, something County Government can't get through its head for whatever reason."

Statement by legendary Detroit activist General Gordon Baker: The Rev. Pinkney's victory in the courts of Benton Harbor marks a great triumph for the trade union movement as a whole in the U.S. and particularly for the social movement throughout the state of Michigan and the whole country. Clearly, it was in the interest of Whirlpool Corporation to silence a voice like Rev Pinkney so the property Whirlpool needed could be acquired with little opposition.

Rev. Pinkney accelerated the struggle against corporate control of our lives and offers new hope for the people of Benton Harbor.

Fundraiser/Publicity T-shirts are white in sizes M, L, XL, and 2X. Donation is $10 and $3 for shipping. Payment can be made at Moratorium-Mi.org or checks can be sent to Moratorium NOW, 5920 2nd Ave., Detroit MI 48202quickly with PayPal

Rev. Edward Pinkney - How BANCO Started:

"Many years ago I was going about my life believing that the justice system was just that until I started going to the court house to observe all the wrong convictions. There are numerous factors for wrongful convictions in the Berrien County court system. Most of the problems are in the local judicial system."

"It's hard to believe that in the year 2012 we have a county in Michigan with a legal system this antiquated and racist. What's harder to believe is that no one at the State or National level is taking any action to remedy the situation."

"We cannot run society for the privileged and allow a significant proportion of the population to be marginalized. It impacts the quality of life for all of us. If we have throwaway people, a justice system which tolerates injustice is doomed to collapse. I am truly ready for action."